Easter in Germany - Coloring Eggs

They can be quail eggs, hen eggs, goose eggs even ostrich eggs, but to become "Easter Eggs" they are decorated.

Boiled or soaked in vegetable or fruit juice/dye/packaged color mix: hand painted, scratched, waxed, outlined with lemon juice. Even pierced into a design with a tooth drill and painted.

Whatever method is chosen to decorate eggs there will not be many on a German Easter breakfast table, or lying somewhere waiting to be found, that have escaped being "beautified" in one way or another.

In Germany egg painting is a popular hobby, with a long tradition, and the absolute experts are Sorbs. A Slavic minority living on the eastern side of the country, along the border with Poland and the Czech Republic, they not only color and paint their eggs but also cover them with fine embroidery.

It is a German Easter tradition even for those of us who are much less talented, and there are many ways to ensure we have beautifully decorated colored eggs to hang from branches in our homes or gardens; for making Easter wreaths, or simply gracing our tables.

First some tips before you start your Easter egg decorating

Use the shells from free range eggs. Not only will the life of the chicken be "happier", the shells are thicker so it is easier to blow them out if you are intending to keep them, hard boiled eggs do not "last forever", and the colors and decorations will "take" better.

White eggs are best because the end color results will be more authentic.

And last but not least, rub the shells of the eggs with vinegar before coloring. This removes any grease, smooths the chalk layer so the color remains longer and looks much fresher.

If you choose to blow out the eggs this is how to go about it.

You will need:

Your eggs
A sharp needle or a pin
A bowl to catch the eggs contents

Poke a small hole in the narrow end of the egg with the needle and a slightly larger hole at the other end, making sure you tear through the membrane, the lining inside the egg.
Hold the egg over the bowl and blow through the small hole. The contents of the egg will be forced through the larger hole and into the bowl.

This raw egg can be kept for a day or two, covered with plastic wrap, and used for Easter baking.

There are all types of special egg painting kits to be found, but it is great fun to use natural food coloring, from things that can be found in the kitchen, to dye Easter eggs just as they used to be colored not so many years ago.

Here are a few decorated eggs ideas: Colors and Ingredients from the Kitchen and Garden

As soon as Easter begins to grow closer, all over Germany white eggs are dyed, and over dyed. For example, colored first in water with turmeric, and then over-dyed with a red cabbage mixture. This turns the egg a vibrant green, and, more often than not, some egg white ends up almost as green as the gleaming shell.

It is fun to experiment with different combinations but, as eggs can take on a little of the taste of the natural dye used, although they will not be harmful not all will be "delicious". Tree bark flavored egg?

The Dye Color Mix for 8 cups, 2 quarts, water, with steeping time if necessary and cooking times

First large vegetables such as beets or carrots must be chopped, and tree bark or any dried berries soaked, before use.

Fresh produce can immediately be used to make the color bath. Filter this before using to dye the eggs.

Putting vinegar in the colored water lightens the color but weakens the shell, so the egg has to air dry to harden before handling.

1/2 tsp alum added to the water makes the colors brighter.

If using hard boiled eggs, already been rubbed with vinegar, soak covered in the cooled colored water, occasionally removing them with a spoon to check the color intensity. When they have reached the intended shade, put them onto a kitchen towel or paper to dry. The longer they soak the deeper the color.

Eggs that have been blown out should be placed under running cold water as soon as they are removed from the color bath.

There are many decorating techniques, traditions and ideas that will add an extra dimension to your colored eggs, but simply rubbed with a few drops of cooking oil adds not only shine to naturally colored Easter eggs, they also become brighter and are ready to use. And of course not only for Easter.

They can be can be hung with ribbons from Easter trees in the garden: in the home from an "Osterstrauch", a branch or small tree with spring blossoms or buds, added to an Easter wreath, as a decoration on your Easter bread, or hidden in the garden by the Easter Bunny, and wherever you are it could almost be "An Easter in Germany".